Posted on 01/07/2009 11:39:36 AM PST by This Just In
Next Person Who Asks ‘Who Is John Galt?’ Gets a Smack
Posted by Anthony Sacramone on January 7, 2009
The more appropriate question is, Where is John Galt? And the answer may be “prison.”
I remember my Randian days, late-70s/early 80s, when libertarianism and the virtue of selfishness and the integrity of the individual were high on my list of values. I had read The Fountainhead and, yes, all of Atlas Shrugged, as well as several of Rand’s smaller philosophical works. I found her vision compelling, especially during the late Carter years, when collectivism was not only fashionable on campuses but heralded as the unified field theory of economic and social life by many on the Stupid Left. (I also had little use for religion back then — for any form of authority, for that matter.)
Here we are again, with free markets and deregulation in tatters, at least in the thinking of those who now wield political power. Big Government is not only back but deified. And Republicans have played their fair share in that turn of events. But what goes around, comes around. Big Government will become Big Brother and there will be a revolt, although unclenching the adamantine grip of the bureaucracies from the lives of citizens will take decades.
And then the free-market/entrepreneurial right will go nuts again, and people will be left homeless and jobless, and the wheel will turn another 180, and so on and so on …
I think I will take up Anthony Burgess’ prescient The Wanting Seed once again, what with its Augustinian and Pelagian antinomies.
Thanks, I’ve forgotten more stuff I learned than I can remember. ;-) I could Google/Wiki but it is irritating when “erudite” leaves 99% thinking “opaque”. Throw in one more sentence in explanation. IMHO. ;-)
I have never read it and when I asked hubby if there was a copy of it in the house he informed me that his copy of it disappeared long ago.
And more importantly. . . .what is Dagny’s phone number ???
Depends on what the word "useful" means. Freepers have the opportunity to do this all day long, but it seems to be a rare skill these days.
I know who John Galt is, I just don’t give a damn. And yeah, I read the damn book.
Do you know when it was dedicated and why? The map shows it to be about four blocks long.
Count me in as part of that 2%.
Currently 3/4ths through my 4th (5th?) reading myself.
(tho I must confess that the last few readings I’ve skimmed through the “this is John Galt” speech.)
I had to buy my copy because our library has a waiting list for its three copies. My sister in Missouri had a similar situation — 12 people waiting for one of three copies.
Just who the Heck is Caroline Kennendy?
I just want to find the Gulch...
The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only, there is no stopping in the white zone.
NO! The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading and there is no stopping in the red zone.
Henry Martyn.
Bretta Martyn.
The Crystal Empire.
Lever Action.
Still need to add Hope to my collection.
I’ll pass on the fish...
Hold the Schlossberg?
I finally read it last year. I was kicking myself for waiting so long just after finishing it..
I underlined the heck out of my copy. Bought a second copy for my kid.
Funny I got to the same sort of place in my thinking years before I actually read it. I certainly am glad that I now actually know who John Galt is.
The white zone is for loading and unloading only. If you gotta load, or unload, go to the white zone. You’ll love it.
We take you now to a garage in Canoga Park...
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